


Flock Together

by LilacEnthusiast



Category: Miraculous Ladybug, Skullgirls
Genre: Angst and Humor, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Childhood Trauma, Culture Shock, Gen, Hijinks & Shenanigans, lore dumpster-fire
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2020-05-18 20:42:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19342258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilacEnthusiast/pseuds/LilacEnthusiast
Summary: Nathalie thought she’d seen it all in regards to the absurd and seemingly impossible, especially after taking up the persona of Mayura. She’s proven oh so very wrong when a child who also wields the power of a bird-like magical entity is flung from an alternate version of the distant past and unceremoniously dropped on Nathalie’s metaphorical doorstep. Now Nathalie has to work with the brat in hopes of sending her back to her own decade and universe before the kid uses her metal foot to shatter Mr. Agreste’s kneecaps.Patricia “Peacock” Watson doesn’t like to admit that she was wrong, but maybe she should have heeded Big Band, Ileum, and well, basically everyone’s advice on not pushing the limits of her powers too much. Now she’s stuck in a world with no Skullheart and magical jewelry instead of Parasites and Living Weapons, which is confusing as hell for her. One thing she does know for certain, though, is that no matter the universe, trying to wish on ancient artifacts is a terrible idea (the sounds of crackling flames and Marie’s screams still linger in her nightmares).





	Flock Together

**Author's Note:**

> Ayyyyyyy, here's a self-indulgent fic crossing over two franchises I care a lot about. I have no idea if anyone besides me is a fan of both Skullgirls and Miraculous... 
> 
> This fic is compliant with and takes place after the Peacock and/or Big Band story modes. For clarity's sake, I'm writing the events of SG in the 1920s and having it be a year or two after canon. Since a Skullgirl is no longer an imminent threat, Peacock and other younger ASG units have been figuring out their education and potential careers outside of the labs.
> 
> I hope ya'll like this! (Thanks to Mr_BlackCat for beta reading this!)

Mayura grimaced as she sensed her sentimonster disappear. Suddenly, she heard a loud noise that was like a combination of a squawk and pieces of metal scraping against each other. Before she could properly register what she was hearing, a small figure slammed into her, knocking her to the floor.

 

A dazed and winded Mayura stared at the young girl that was now standing on top of her. The girl had a curly, ginger bob-cut peeking out from under a stove-pipe top hat. and appeared to be around Adrien’s age. This made the freshly lit cigar clamped between the child’s unnaturally sharp and shiny teeth seem rather inappropriate to Mayura. The strange little girl’s boot clad feet appeared to be metal prosthetics, planting themselves firmly on the villainess’ blue-clothed chest.

 

What Mayura found most alarming about the little girl, though, was the fact that she seemed to have no eyes in her head and too many eyes attached to her lanky arms and peeking out from under her skirt. The girl’s sightless eye sockets maintained “eye contact” with Mayura while her many red eyes surveyed the space around them. After puffing out a rather large and impossibly immaculate ring-shaped puff of smoke, the little girl said,”Hey! Wild Blue Blunder, ya know the way back to Maplecrest High School? I seem to have made a uhhhh, slight surprise detour while tele-warping to class. Miss Victoria is gonna really tear into me for using my powers to sneak off campus, especially after I wore my ‘foolish costume’ to school instead of a ‘proper uniform’, buuuuuut there was an ice cream sale and Avery, Argus, and I were reallyyyyy hungry.”

“I, um, w-what?”, Mayura spluttered.

“Look, I’ll give you some ice cream, you can tell me how ta get back to class as quickly as possible, and we can keep this just between us.” The girl promptly removed her hat, revealing a tiny bird in attire that matched her own perched on her head. She reached into the hat and pulled out a tub of ice cream with the words “Freezy’s Fantastic Flavor: Favorite Ice Cream of all the Three Kingdoms” printed on it and the image of a smiling brunette woman with fangs and horns. The bird whistled innocently while the girl secretively slid the ice cream into Mayura’s hand like it was some sort of bribe.

“I am not aware of any Maplecrest High School in Paris...”

“I guess we’re not in New Meridian anymore, Avery,” gleefully cried the girl, sounding alarmingly similar to Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. “This is just like that Annie of the Stars episode where Annie... ah, nevah mind. Is Paris one of those new towns built in the No Man’s Land after the Great War? I’ve nevah heard of it before...”

“T-the Great War? Do you mean World War 1?”

“Geez, lady, ya must’ve hit your head harder than I thought! We’ve only had one world war and calling it ‘World War 1’ is sorta implying there’s multiple world wars! Anyways, can ya at least point me in the general direction of New Meridian…”

 

“I don’t know of any place called New Meridian…”

 

“It’s the capital city of the Canopy Kingdom, duh. Y’know giant castle, lots of casinos, Bastet’s Den? Ya can’t miss it!”

 

“I don’t know what the Canopy Kingdom is either…”

 

“One of the big three kingdoms that fought in the Great War, doesn’t that ring any bells, Blue Jape? Geez, this ‘Paris’ must be even more isolated than Rommelgrad before it was... destroyed…”

 

The girl suddenly grew quiet, her jaunty little speech faltering. “Right, heh, Rommelgrad...”, her shoulders slumped , her smile dipped, and her bottom lip seemed to quiver for a brief moment before her expression quickly and seamlessly slid back into a mask of confidence and stubborn cheerfulness. Mayura briefly wondered if she had imagined the change in body language.

“May I ask your name and the identities of Argus and Avery? Also, if you must know, Paris is the capital of France, and the year is 2001X. Perhaps you have travelled through time or have even... entered another universe entirely...”

“I’m Patricia, although most people call me Peacock! Argus and Avery are my parasites, they help me see an' shoot lasers an' teleport an' pull objects from behind my back like in cartoons!!”

 

While Peacock was animatedly talking about Argus and Avery, the cigar fell out of her mouth, and Mayura realized that it seemed to be made of candy and wasn’t even lit in the first place. Briefly, the supervillainess wondered how Peacock had managed to blow a smoke ring with an unlit stick of chocolate shaped like a cigar.

 

She didn’t have much time to think on that, though, since a harsh clicking noise came from the floor a few feet away from them. An irate Gabriel Agreste rose from the floor, gesticulating wildly.

 

“Foiled again! I swear on my great-aunt’s grave that I’ll get those Mira-...”

 

Gabriel noticed the strange child currently pinning his partner in crime to the ground and stinking up his evil lair with the scent of charred chocolate. Mayura’s eyes flicked between the gaping fashion mogul slash supervillain and the excitable cyborg, trying desperately to keep a relatively calm demeanor.

 

“Who the hell is this child? What is she doing here? I don’t remember akumatizing her!”

 

Numerous, floating red eyes zipped out from under her skirt and began enthusiastically examining Gabriel. The man scowled at the eyes, and tried to bat them away.

 

“What’s akumatizing? It sounds… spooooooky! Yer hair looks weird! Do ya’ like cartoons?”

 

Peacock rambled on for a moment or so before blanching suddenly. The mechanical eyes flitting about dropped rapidly to the floor, filling the room with a chorus metallic clangs. Clutching her head, Peacock fell to her knees, trembling.

 

“I…. my head…. feelsh…fuzzy... ‘m tired… shouldn’t a’.... gone so far… so fast….”

 

She quietly retched before slumping over in a heap of metal and fabric. Mayura carefully slid herself out from under the collapsed girl. The supervillainess let out a sigh of relief as she rose to her feet, brushing off her blue tailcoat.

 

“Nath- Mayura! Have our secret identities been compromised by this… creature…”

 

Mayura’s brow furrowed in concern as she gave curt shake of her head.

 

“Negative, sir. She has no idea who we are, and even if she could tell anyone she’d out herself as being… not from our world… Hell, if she goes out like she is she’ll surely get mistaken for an akuma.”

 

A heavy silence hung between the two villains as they ruminated on their current predicament. Moments later, Gabriel let out a quiet scoff, pinching the bridge of his nose.

 

“I suppose we’ll have to… discuss how we will go about handling this… thing.”

 

“I suppose so, sir. I’ll help you move her somewhere more convenient. We can discuss our… circumstances on the way out.”

 

Mayura lifted the unconscious child and bird creature, hefting them over her shoulder. Even in her sleep, the girl didn’t seem to stop moving. She tossed and turned, muttering incomprehensibly as her face twisted into an expression of confusion and dismay.

 

—————-

 

Dirt crunched under Peacock’s boots, echoing through the barren streets of Rommelgrad. Ash filled her aching lungs as she trudged past smoking dilapidated ruins. She walked in a strange haze, past burnt down homes and stores and fallow fields until she was in front of a painfully familiar house.

 

Much of the building’s original structure was gone. All that remained was a few charred, crumbling walls and the smoking wooden skeleton. Smoke wafted from the collapsed roof, smelling of melted plastic and burnt hair. The door hung crooked in its door frame, which creaked ominously as Peacock walked towards it.

 

Peacock reached down and picked up a charred little doll lying at the building’s doorstep with a gloved hand. Much of the doll’s cloth body had been burnt away, but one could discern what once was teal dress with a star emblazoned on its chest. A little wooden sword had been stitched to the doll’s hand and long limp braids hung from its ash-smudged head.

 

“Patricia….”

 

A quiet voice rasped from behind her. Peacock spun around, facing the source of the voice only to find a pale figure in a long, black dress. The figure was thin and hunched over, clutching at its long thin brown hair.

 

“Marie?”

 

The figure looked at Peacock with glassy blue eyes, tears spilling down her sallow cheeks.

 

“Patricia…. I’m so sorry… I was a stupid… a coward… I… I left you behind. I have… I had to… it was the only way… the Skullheart”

 

“Marie, no, y-… ya died a long time ago… ya made your wish, and I don’t blame you… I don’t blame you at all…”

 

Peacock’s heart pounded in her ears and he chest felt tight. It was just another nightmare. Just another bad memory, but that didn’t make reliving thing, seeing Marie suffering again, any less painful. No matter what she did in these dreams she couldn’t change anything. She couldn’t save Marie. She couldn’t stop Valentine from killing Dr. Avian. She couldn’t keep her parents from being crushed under ash and rubble. She couldn’t keep those evil men from taking her eyes.

 

Marie’s brown hair turned bone white and her eyes became red and cold. The flesh disappeared from her long, thin fingers, revealing dry, delicate bones. She clutched at her face and grimaced, her hoarse gasps rattling in her bony chest. Sapphire flames consumed her as her face slackened into a tired, lifeless mask.

 

“You shouldn’t have come here Patricia… it’s not safe… I’m not s-safe… please Patricia… don’t get in my way… you’ll only… you’ll only get hurt… I’m doing the right thing… they have… they have to suffer for what they did… Patricia… I’m scared… I’m glad I got to see you… one last time…”

 

Marie let out a high-pitched wail as she collapsed in a pile of smouldering ash, glowing blue embers floating away from her remains. Peacock’s grip on the doll tightened, as she fought back tears. This was the past. She couldn’t bring Marie back, no matter how hard she tried.

 

“I wanted so badly to be a hero, and I couldn’t even save ya… I couldn’t even save my best friend…”

 

The words caught in her throat and rose bitter into her mouth like bile. She knew Marie couldn’t hear her, but it felt good to talk to her even like this. She could faintly hear Argus crooning in the back of her mind, as they often did whenever she had a particularly nasty dream or got lost in painful memories. Her gang, her parasites, and the other residents of Lab 8 always had her back, supporting her whenever she had particularly bad days. A lot of them had their own traumas and personal issues, but they all banded together to create a ragtag emotional support system for each other.

 

They weren’t here now, though. All she had in her dreams were Argus and Avery.

 

When she woke up, she supposed she’d be in a similar situation. She’d be without most of her friends or quasi-family in a strange world. It had been a bad idea through and through to mess around with her warping abilities, but she often jumped into dangerous and ill-thought out plans with reckless abandon. If he were here, Big Band would probably make some comment about taking better care of herself and knowing her limits while checking to see if she needed any help. Ileum would worry over her and Hive would act all snooty before later sliding her some sugary treat. Andy would bawl his eyes out and Leduc would quietly ask her how she’s doing.

 

Peacock missed them terribly and she’d only been conscious in that bizarro universe for a few minutes. She wondered what the hell was up with that blue lady. Maybe she was part Gigan or something? Argus seemed to have sensed four people besides their group in the room, so perhaps the two humanoids had Parasites or Living Weapons as well…

 

The ruins of Rommelgrad and the musings faded away from Peacock’s mind as she slowly began to regain consciousness. Faintly, she could hear the sound of voices.

 


End file.
